STATION VISIT - Victorian Railway Engineering

This Station Visit session is designed to inspire your group’s learning of the Victorian era with focus on engineering and innovations of the time.

The session will include:

The opportunity to explore two of our restored period stations

Education activities lead by the Watercress Line Education Department

The opportunity to come to the Watercress Line dressed in Victorian outfit

Tour of Alresford station considering the building of the railway and the impact of the railway’s arrival on the community and local trade.

Visit to the Engine Yard at Ropley

A choice of educational activities including:

Victorian Bridges: Innovation in materials. Explore examples of Victorian inventions and developments at one of our stations and discover how they helped Britain progress during the Industrial Revolution.

The Quiet Beech Tree: What has it seen? Learn about local Victorian history through the eyes of our old Beech Tree. In small groups we explore stories from the railway’s Victorian past through pictures, artefacts and role play and construct an event time line.

Victorian Civil Engineering: Building the railway to Alresford. In 3 groups, we build a 3D contour map, use a hands-on model to explore Victorian railway civil engineering projects, cuttings and embankment, and work out how much chalk came from the Ropley cutting?

The Quiet Beech Tree: Tweet Sheet. Learn about what our Beech Tree has seen during its life time including a few momentous moments of the railway. Using their new knowledge, your group will construct a tweet-story starter with only 140 characters.

Is It Victorian or just old? Using their knowledge and understanding of authentic and replica items, your group will be tasked with creating an illustrated timeline of our railway.